Tate gets 10 years in plea deal

Sentence for role in robbery to run concurrently with his 30-year term

February 20, 2008|By Tonya Alanez Staff Writer

At 14, Lionel Tate was the youngest American to receive a life sentence, though he was later set free.

Tate, now 21 and taller than either of his attorneys, took responsibility Tuesday for his role in a 2005 robbery of a pizza-delivery man and accepted a 10-year prison sentence in a plea deal.

That sentence will run concurrently with the 30 years Tate is serving for violating his murder probation by taking part in the robbery.

Tate entered the legal system at 12, charged as an adult with first-degree murder for the beating death of a 6-year-old playmate.

He's been through convictions, appeals, plea deals and a swath of attorneys, along the way becoming the poster child for reform of laws that allow juveniles to be prosecuted as adults.

Lessons learned over the course of Tate's legal odyssey, attorneys say, influenced how Broward prosecutors have handled a more recent case involving a 12-year-old Lauderhill boy accused of the Jan. 4 beating death of his 17-month-old cousin.

On Friday, prosecutors in that case filed a second-degree murder charge in juvenile court.

Tate's mother, upon leaving court Tuesday, contrasted the two cases, lamenting that her son was sent directly into the adult system for prosecution.

Children should remain in the juvenile system, Kathleen Grossett-Tate said.

"Keep them with children where they're not being trained to become career criminals," she said. "I'm tired. I'm tired of the whole system, the whole case. I'm just tired."

Grossett-Tate has long been criticized for rejecting a 2001 plea deal in the murder case that would have placed her son in a juvenile-detention facility for three years.

She insisted the July 1999 death at her Pembroke Park home was an accident, occurring as her 160-pound son mimicked professional wrestling moves while playing with 48-pound Tiffany Eunick.

The 6-year-old girl died of a fractured skull and a blow that detached part of her liver.

After a Broward jury convicted Tate of Tiffany's murder, he was sentenced to life in prison. An appeal, founded on the judge's failure to have Tate tested to see if he could understand the legal system and the charges against him, overturned the conviction.

Tate then pleaded to second-degree murder and was freed four years ago with a year of house arrest and 10 years' probation.

But his freedom was short-lived. By May 2005, Tate was back behind bars, accused of holding up a Domino's deliveryman at gunpoint for four pizzas worth $33.60.

Tuesday's plea came on a morning scheduled for jury selection.

Had Tate been convicted of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, he could have faced life in prison.

Prosecutor Chuck Morton said conflicting evidence, combined with witnesses who have recanted and DNA that connects Tate and others to the crime, prompted the plea deal.

"He's finally put an end to his case," Morton said out of court. "It's tragic that his life has taken this course, and I don't feel good about that at all."

But Tate's legal journey isn't over yet, said his defense attorney Jim Lewis.

Fueled by evidence that shows Tate had no intention of stealing pizzas at gunpoint and was not the gunman, Lewis said he intends to appeal the 30-year sentence.

"Lionel has admitted to being an accessory," Lewis said. "I think a 10-year sentence is fair for that."

The 30-year sentence was excessive and based on the mistaken belief that Tate was the gunman, Lewis said.

"Let's go back and revisit it and get a fair sentence," Lewis said, adding that he hopes to get Tate a 10-year sentence on the violation to run concurrent with Tuesday's sentence.

The state Department of Corrections lists Tate's release date as May 4, 2031.

Tonya Alanez can be reached at tealanez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4542.